Alone In A Crowded World
by RavenDove
Summary: When Dr. Bashir awakes to find himself in a slave market things really look bleak until an unexpected savior comes to his resque.
1. The Market

This story is the first product written on my new bargin basement ten year outdated laptop. If anyone asks It's named Traveler. If you look for it on my Bro-In-Laws network it's named after a type of penguin that lives in Australia and makes a braying sound. Points if you can send me an e-mail with the name of the penguin.

I know it's not update on all the other stories I've left you hanging on before. I'm trying to work out some personal issues right now and using this site for online therapy.

Star Trek is not mine, but that never stopped me before.

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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Alone In A Crowded World

by Lyda Mae (RavenDove) Jeppesen-Huff

Chapter One: The Market

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Dr. Julian Bashir felt a pressure beneath his eyes that he was certain shouldn't be there. He couldn't move and he was uncomfortably cold. He tried to open his eyes, but the world swam before him and he was forced to close them again. His hands had gone numb and as near as he could figure he was in some form of restraint. There was jolt of pain all through his body, and he opened hi eyes again to a foul breathed and slimy biped he was unfamiliar with.

"Welcome to the market of Deronge, slave." the bipedal slug said.

The wave of pain ended and Julian tried to take a closer stock of his situation. The first thing he noticed was the noise. He was in an open air market. He was strapped in an open frame that allowed him no movement whatsoever, while at the same time allowing a clear view of his naked body to all who walked by.

There were many goods for sale here, from food stuffs and fine jewelry to engine parts and exotic pets. The part of the market he was in was set aside for the sale of sentient beings. There were at least a dozen such frames as the one he stood in were within view as far as the frame allowed him to move his head. All but one of them was filled with the from of another being trapped as he was. They were male and female as well as genders Julian could not determine without a tricorder. There were also forms bearing scars and lifeless eyes sitting chained in groups.

The last thing Julian remembered before this moment was having his runabout attacked near the far edge of known Dominion space. There had been four others on the runabout with him, but the forward cabin had been breached. He'd been sealed in a lab module by a force field Then when he'd been near running out of air he'd felt a transporter take him. After that nothing, until waking up here.

He closed his eyes in a moment of self pity. What he had though would be his rescue had turned out to be his doom.

The day wore on and the sun baked his exposed skin until the touch of unwanted hands stung. When his mouth had grown parched beyond the point of madness he begged for water and was given none. When the sun fell behind a the horizon he was released from the frame and had his arms chained behind his back. He and the others who were kept in the frames were lead into a building with no windows and locked into cells with no windows. The chains on their arms were taken away and collars fitted to their necks the held them fast to the wall. Each collar had just enough chain to allow one to sit with their back to the wall or to lay on the concrete but not enough length to allow one to stand.

Julian was given a ration of water and a bowl of mush to eat. It took all of his will not to down them too fast. Other prisoners made that mistake and retched upon the floor. When the meal had ended a guard came trough the cells and washed the mess left behind down drains in the floor and collected the dishes. The lights were turned out and the slaves were left to sleep naked on the wet bare floor.

There were cramps in Julian's muscles that he could not work lose as he turned fitfully on the bare floor. The day trapped in that frame had left him stiff and prone to the ravages of the sun. His skin was burned and the lack of movement might cause blood to clot in human legs. He might not survive much more of this treatment. He had to find a way free of this place. Being sold could mean any number of possible tortures. It was in his tossing on the floor that he noticed the lump beneath his hairline. The worst horror yet was that they had obviously implanted something in his brain. Perhaps it was what had caused the wave of pain earlier. "_Some form of obedience device." _The idea was repugnant to Bashir, who had removed such devices from Bajorans that had survived the occupation. When sleep claimed him it was filled with nightmares.

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	2. The Haradin

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Alone In A Crowded World

by Lyda Mae (RavenDove) Jeppesen-Huff

Chapter Two: The Haradin

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Bashir was given another ration of water and a stale cake of some kind before being let to the same frame as the day before. He felt a little stronger for the food and a little less pained after being allowed some movement. Though another day on display in this manner might be the death of him.

The parade of bidders and fondlers continued until midday when a fat creature of indeterminable gender covered in what Julian could only call the most gaudy burqa he had ever seen placed a long nailed finger on his cheek.

"This one is unique." it said in a rasping high voice. "I will pay you twice my usual price for him."

"It cost us three times that to subdue him." the foul breathed slug in charge said in indignation. "We had to map his brain twice for the implants."

"You over exaggerate, Migrat." The haradin said. "The way you treat your merchandise they always depreciate or die before you sell them at a fifth of what I'm offering."

The slug grumble, "I will take no less than 27,000 for him."

The hand of the buyer found it's way to Julian's bottom and along a most uncomfortably part of his left thigh. "He might be worth 23, but not 27."

The way the slug's eye's lit up made Julian sick. This was obviously the price he was holding out for. "For you Marteche, 24,000."

Marteche tilted its head under the burqa as if thinking. "Done."

Migrat released Julian's arms from the frame and Marteche clamped a gilded collar on his neck. He then found his wrists in restraints bound to his waist that allowed him to extend one arm at a time, but not both. He then fell to the ground as Migrat demonstrated the pain and pleasure settings of the control remote. He felt blood in his mouth from biting his tung as he writhed momentarily. He was then hauled to his feet and lead by the collar to a waiting shuttle.

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Marteche removed the burqa in the shuttle and Bashir was surprised to find that she was female, and though she was large in stature, she was not ugly. The skin of her face was lavender and there were streaks of blue hair on her perfectly round head. Her eyes were a shade of green like rolling grass. She had no eyebrows and her pupils were oval shaped. She looked him over in a way that was both gentle and frightening at the same time. With a gentle touch she removed his collar and the chains that bound his arms to his waist.

"Be seated." she said as she gestured to a bench on one side of the cabin.

For a moment Bashir hesitated, not sure if he should obey or try to gain freedom now before the shuttle departed the city.

Marteche smiled at the hesitation. "You don't have as much to fear from me as you might think." She took his hand and sat down on the bench beside where she had indicated he should. When Julian was seated she opened a compartment and pulled out what looked like a tricorder and medical kit. "She then began to run a dermal regenerator over his parched and burned skin. "I will treat you better than any slave merchant would."

Bashir frowned, "What is to become of me?"

"That depends on what you prove useful for."

Julian looked her straight in the eye. "My name is Julian Bashir, I am a citizen of The United Federation Of Planets, and a Starfleet officer. I am also a Medical Doctor. I was taken prisoner and sold against my will."

"That is a life that I can not return to you just yet, Julianbashir, but if it proves possible, you will gain your freedom." she said. "Though I may or may not find use for your skills, you will have to earn back the price I paid for you before I can grant you liberty."

"So you are not a philanthropist." he said with indignation.

"It takes money to pay for my operation." Marteche said. "I have to keep it running somehow." Once she had finished with the last of the burns she pulled out a form of hypo-infuser and began calibrating it. "This will help with the dehydration and restore your electro lite balance."

As it touched Julian's skin he felt himself absorbing the contents like a sponge, and he found it hard to continue sitting up with how deliriously good it felt. When Marteche finished the treatment she helped him to lay down on the bench and covered him with a soft blanket.

"Rest now and I will bring you food before we reach our next destination."

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	3. The Players In The Game

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Alone In A Crowded World

by Lyda Mae (RavenDove) Jeppesen-Huff

Chapter Three: The Players In The Game

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Julian awoke much later to find clothes laid at the foot of the bench. It took him a moment to figure out how to put them on and they didn't quite cover as much of him as he would have liked. It was a sort of one piece thing that covered about as much as a skimpy pair of swim trunks and had interweaving straps that covered his chest and shoulders, but left his navel and most of his back exposed. There were also socks and a pair of knee length boots that matched the skimpy thing. It was better than being naked, but it was less than he would have hoped for.

After dressing he sat on the bench to take stock of his situation. Marteche entered the back cabin carrying a tray of mixed fruit and a bowl of broth that smelled so good that Julian was tempted to ask for seconds before he'd been handed firsts.

"Don't eat too quickly." she warned as she set the tray on Julian's lap. "Your first job is to help me keep up appearances Julianbashir."

Julian tried to mumble a name correction through a mouth full of fruit. He swallowed ad tried again. "My given name is Julian and my family name is Bashir."

"Which do you prefer to be called?"

"My friends call me Julian."

Marteche smiled "Julian is a nice name." She began her explanation again. "We are going to pretend that you are my new favorite sex."

Julian almost choked as she said that and looked at Marteche with more than a little concern.

She laughed, "Don't worry Julian, I don't like to take what isn't freely offered. This is just to keep the bigger players in the game here from getting wind of what I'm really up to." She held up the remote for his implant. "I have rigged this so it looks like it is on a higher setting when it's really at the lowest signal possible. When I press the switches you will only get a faint signal that will let you know how to act."

Julian swallowed what was in his mouth. "So I should only get a slight tingle of pain."

"But you should act like you are in absolute agony, and if I am rewarding you."

"I should act like I'm experiencing euphoria."

Marteche nodded, "It is common practice to give a visitor of my status a room with a bed large enough for them and their current favorites, and they will know if we have shared it, though we do not have to engage in any acts beyond kissing and caressing."

"I'm not entirely comfortable with that."

"You're not suppose to be." she said, "As far as everyone knows the reason why I change favorites so much is because I stop having fun when new slaves start enjoying my attention. So be a little stand offish and make it so I have to discipline you. It will make the show more convincing. When no one is looking I will keep my hands to myself."

"Are you certain that remote is properly set?"

She demonstrated pain and Julian found it to be more of an all over prickle than the agony he had experienced before. The pleasure setting was more obvious, but just as easy to shake off if he wanted.

Julian began to pace the cabin with questions burning in his mind. "Why do you do the things you do Marteche?"

"I do what I do for my own reasons Julian." She stood and headed for the forward cabin. "We are near landing on Heag. The first of my many stops on this trip. You may come and observe my pilot Den as he lands the ship if you please. I will have to chain you again when we disembark, but until then I will give you free reign of the ship."

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	4. Healing Tears

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Alone In A Crowded World

by Lyda Mae (RavenDove) Jeppesen-Huff

Chapter Four: Healing Tears

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O'Brien and Dax went over the _Defient_'s sensor logs again with Sisko.

"There is no doubt about it Benjamin" Jadzia Dax said. "Julian's body is missing, and the transporter trace is there."

Sisko frowned, "And you are certain it's not a Dominion transporter."

"The warp trail doesn't match any known engine make either." said O'Brien.

"Then we need to follow that trail and find out what they've done with Julian."

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Marteche had been greeted on Heag by the planetary Governor himself. A scale man named Regej Ni. "It is so good to see you again Lady Marteche." he kissed the hand she offered from inside the burqa. "Is this your newest favorite?" he smiled at Bashir.

Bashir grimaced at the attention. It was bad enough to have to ware the trained monkey suit and

carry two of Marteche's bags while she led him by the collar. He didn't like the Oily tone Ni used.

"I just piked him up on Deronge," Marteche clucked, "You won't believe what Migrat charged for him." Marteche goosed Julian and nearly caused him to drop the bags. "He's proven very _entertaining_ so far though," she said in a come hither manner, "So I can't complain."

"No doubt you've put him through his paces." Ni chuckled.

Julian decided that he would very much like to go unnoticed for the rest of their stay, but he doubted that he would be granted the pleasure."

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When Marteche had suggested that Julian sit on her lap at dinner he tried to refuse. He knew that she was putting on a show for Ni and soon she brandished the remote. Once he played at agony enough he crawled to her lap and she put the remote away. The two talked of markets and buisness while Marteche fed Bashir choice morsels from her plate.

When she retired to the suite that the Governor had provided her. She fastened the chain of his collar to a latch on the headboard. She went into a side room and Julian took off his boots.

Marteche returned shortly in a long and somewhat filmy nightgown. She tossed him a pair of short that were of more area than the ones he currently wore and less substance at the same time, then turned her head. "I wish I could take the collar off Julian, but Ni has been known to send early wake up calls to those he suspects of being other than what they seam. Leave your clothes on the floor it will make the right impression."

Julian changed quickly and climbed into the bed. He couldn't help but shiver as Marteche climbed in beside him. "Put your back to me Julian." He did as she said and found himself with his head on her ample breast. She placed one arm beneath his head and the other on his bare chest. "I promise that I will not hurt you."

He shook at her touch. "That is a promise I still can't take at face value."

Her hand moved up and stroked his cheek and his shoulder. "I don't expect you to after what you've been through, but what I refuse to take from you I can give of myself. If you need to cry for what you feel you have lost, then cry. I will dry your tears, and think no less of you for them."

It was then that Julian finally admitted to himself that he wanted to weep like he hadn't since he was a little boy.

"All sentients feel pain Julian, it's the fact that some of them enjoy causing it that makes me spend my life trying to save a few from the miseary that isn't their fault."

It was the that the tears began to roll down Julian's cheeks. The whole time he cried Marteche just held him and stroked his cheek and arm. It was a comfort that he couldn't explain. When he had cried all his hurts out he fell asleep their in her arms.

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End file.
